TWENTY THIRD FUNGAL GENETICS CONFERENCE The Twenty Third Fungal Genetics Conference will be held at the Asilomar Conference Center at Asilomar, California on March 15-20, 2005. Approximately 700 scientists and students from around the world will attend. The conference focuses on the molecular biology, genetics, genomics, biochemistry and cell biology of filamentous fungi. This is considered by many to be the pre-eminent meeting in this area and promotes interaction between researchers interested in medical pathogens, plant pathogens, saprobic fungi and symbiotic fungi. The meeting will consist of four plenary sessions, four sets of concurrent sessions devoted to specialized areas, three poster sessions and opportunity for informal discussions. Topics to be covered in the plenary sessions are: Cell Biology and Development, Genomes and Evolution, Fungal Interactions, and Signaling and Gene Regulation. Specialized concurrent sessions are planed to cover: Whole genome comparative analyses, Post-genomic approaches to protein secretion, Fungal symbiotic interactions, The fungal cytoskeleton, Metabolic resilience in phytopathogens, Medical Mycology, Fungal-Plant Interactions, Parasitic interactions nematodes, insects and fungi, Fungal Circadian Rhythms and photobiology, Applications resulting from fungal genome projects, Teaching fungal biology and genetics, Proteomics of filamentous fungi, Basidiomycete genomics, Industrial Mycology and Fungal Biotechnology, Secondary metabolism and gene clusters, Regulation of Primary Metabolism, Systems Biology for Fungi, Fungal Transcriptome, Cellular Morphogenesis and Development, Epigenetics, transposable elements, prions, Fungal Population Genetics, DNA repair and genetic instability, Evolutionary Genomics, Mating and Sexual Development. In this meeting strong emphasis is placed on the participation of young scientists and students, particularly those from underrepresented groups. Funds are requested to help defray the travel and participation costs of students, postdoctoral researchers and some invited speakers and will be distributed on a need basis.